Subject: Munir and the Protection of Rights Defenders [JP op-ed by
Kontras and Human Rights First (HRF)]

The Jakarta Post May 15, 2009

Op-Ed

Munir and the Protection of Rights Defenders

by Usman Hamid and Matthew Easton

London and New York

For more than four years, no case has been more central to the security
of human rights defenders in Indonesia than the 2004 poisoning of Munir
Said Thalib. However, that case is now at risk of collapse following the
acquittal of a former senior intelligence official, Muchdi Purwopranjono.
The unsolved murder dramatically underscores the need for better
protection of human rights activists.

In June 2008, Indonesian police detained Muchdi Pr, charging him with
the premeditated murder of Munir. On Dec. 31, 2008, Muchdi Pr was
acquitted on all charges following a trial marked by the systematic
retraction of prior sworn statements by key witnesses and by the presence
of organized groups seeking to influence the trial. The acquittal is under
appeal to the Supreme Court.

The murder of Munir is just one stark example of the need for better of
protection for human rights activists. Many more human rights defenders
have been subjected to threats, intimidation and violence, which has in
some cases been fatal.

Not only those activists who work on civil and political rights are at
risk, but also those who work on economic, social, and cultural rights, as
well as environmental issues. Women human rights defenders are often the
target of threats and intimidation from religious groups or other
non-state actors.

The environmental organization WALHI has documented more than 80 cases
in which the legitimate work of activists and poor farmers was
criminalized, including in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Banda Aceh
and West Nusa Tenggara in 2008 alone. Just a few days ago, two of WALHI's
leaders were arrested at a peaceful forum held as an alternative to the
World Ocean Conference in North Sulawesi.

Another example is Papua, where human rights activists and local
politicians speaking out for the rights of Papuans face threats and
intimidation. Shortly after the visit of Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani
in June 2007, Albert Rumbekwan, head of the regional office of the
National Human Rights Commission, received numerous threats via text
messages.

Opinus Tabuni, a member of the Papuan Indigenous Council (DAP), a
representative cultural organization, was reportedly shot by security
forces at a celebration of World Indigenous Peoples' Day in August 2008.
No one has been prosecuted for his murder.

Clearly, Indonesia has some distance to go in ensuring protection for
human rights workers. There are at least three relevant mechanisms in the
national legal and institutional framework to deal with these cases: the
National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), the Human Rights Court, and
the Constitutional Court.

Human rights activists use Komnas HAM for a broad range of human rights
issues by filing individual complaints and pushing for legal and policy
reform or changes in state practices. To make defenders themselves safer
in the long term, the body could propose new laws or amendments. To better
respond to the immediate threats faced by defenders, some human rights
organizations are currently lobbying Komnas HAM to set up a taskforce on
defender protection.

The Human Rights Courts were created by a 2000 law to deal with major
human rights violations that occurred after that time. The Court has the
authority to handle only "gross violations" of human rights, in
the form of crimes against humanity or genocide (but not war crimes or
lesser violations), and has been unable or unwilling to provide justice to
the victims in most of the cases put before them.

As for the ad hoc courts created to deal with cases from before the
2000 law was passed, an impasse between the Komnas HAM, the parliament,
and prosecutors has allowed total impunity for such cases as the
disappearances and shootings of student activists in the late 1990s.

The Constitutional Court has made a contribution to the protection of
human rights defenders. In December 2007, the Court issued a decision
scrapping three articles of the Criminal Code that made it a crime to
insult the head of state. The articles were frequently used during the
regime of Soeharto to silence political dissent, and were still being used
into the reform era to charge and imprison student activists. However, a
number of related articles still remain on the books.

The three mechanisms have been helpful, but they clearly need to be
strengthened.

First, Komnas HAM can still be a key player in protecting human rights
defenders and the recently appointed commissioners should be encouraged to
take concrete steps, such as the creation of a specific task force to deal
with defender protection.

Second, the Human Rights Courts should be strengthened by expanding
their jurisdiction while building up their regional offices and overall
capacity.

Thirdly, Indonesia's Constitutional Court should be consulted more
often on defenders' constitutional rights and the draconian legal measures
remaining on the books

Human rights activists should make full use of the judicial review
process. Apart from these mechanisms, social protection of defenders often
proves to be as important as legal protection. Therefore, it is crucial to
broaden understanding about who and what human rights defenders actually
do to the general public.

Usman Hamid is the director of the Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence (Kontras) Matt Easton is the director of the human
rights defenders program at Human Rights First (HRF)